


You Don't Own Me

by TheUltimateMaddie



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1920s, F/M, Gun Violence, Light Smut, Like super light, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-12 12:25:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9071599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUltimateMaddie/pseuds/TheUltimateMaddie
Summary: Keith is a top member of the most powerful gang in New York City. Lance is the beautiful Cuban lounge singer who catches his eye. But both have secrets and pasts that are better left unsaid. Will the two be able to find love in the middle of the Prohibition?





	1. The Yellow Lion

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a Christmas gift to my sister. I had a week to write it. I am so sorry.

The speakeasy had the strangest name Keith had ever heard. Who would name an illegal alcohol club The Yellow Lion? It just didn’t make any sense. Keith shook his head as he ducked under the low doorway into the dark bar. It wasn’t his job to name the damn place, though he probably could have done better than ‘The Yellow Lion’.  
He was just the delivery boy. He delivered everything from alcohol to a bullet in the head, depending on what Allura asked of him that day. What he would deliver to the owner of The Yellow Lion would remain to be seen.

Keith pushed the black fedora a little lower on his head, and pulled up the collar of his coat. It wasn’t that it was that cold in the bar, Keith just thought that it added a little to his mystique. 

The Korean man smirked as he looked around the crowded room. Cigar smoke hung heavy in the air, clinging to his coat and skin. He spotted a couple of folks that he knew, underlings from some of gangs he had dealt with before. No one very important. 

Allura’s gang was the strongest in New York, making Keith the most dangerous person there. As a member of The Paladin Gang, he held a lot of respect in places like this. A few guys who recognized him made a hasty retreat as he made his way through the room towards the bar. A small form was bustling around behind it, moving so quickly Keith could barely keep track. Keith pulled up and lowered himself onto one of the barstools. Finally, the figure paused in pouring glasses and just doing general bartender things, Keith didn’t know. His specialty was in the alcohol before it hit the bar, not after.

“What’ll ya have champ?” Asked the small individual, coming to rest in front of Keith. 

“A meeting with your boss, little man,” Keith said, taking a guess at the person’s gender because he honestly had no idea.

“I’m not a man,” they said, “Not a girl, just Pidge.”

Keith nodded. Not unusual in his line of work, people just being themselves and not a gender. “Well I still need that meeting Pidge.”

Pidge pushed at their glasses. “Can I ask why?” They said impatiently, obviously itching to get back to their other customers.

Keith smiled blithely, “Just tell him its Allura’s delivery boy, would ya?” Pidge’s eyes widened slightly at the mention of Allura’s name, and nodded briskly as they turned to another, obviously less experienced bartender. 

“Hold the fort, I’ll be back in a minute.” They said as they headed towards the back of the bar and disappeared through a doorway. 

Keith leaned back in his seat, wishing he had asked for a drink before sending the small bartender running to the back. His eyes swept the speakeasy, bored with how familiar it all was. Keith sighed. After working this job for years, it all got a little old. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” came a voice from the small stage located at the back end of the dancefloor. “My name is Hunk, the humble proprietor of this little shack,” This was met with a few cheers. “Thanks for the love folks, but I know it’s not me you’re here to see. Please, put your hands together for the legendary Cuban beauty, El Leon Azul!” 

This announcement was met with considerably more applause as Hunk stepped of the stage and one of the most beautiful people Keith had ever seen took his place in front of the microphone. True to his name, El Leon Azul was dressed completely in blue, down to the sparkly blue headband on his head, surrounded by silky looking waves.  
The bar was especially quiet, waiting for the boy to start singing. Keith found himself almost breathless in anticipation to see how this beautiful man would sound. 

El Leon Azul opened his mouth and started singing as the band joined in. 

“You don’t own me,” he crooned, “I’m not just one of your little toys,” 

Keith found he couldn’t take his eyes off El Leon as he continued his song, singing about being young and free. The man moved like his body was made of music, hips swaying and head tilting just right along with the song. Keith’s breath caught in his throat as El Leon’s eyes met his. Stunning blue framed by inky black lashes. The song never stopped, but Keith could have sworn his heart did. 

Keith had no idea how long the song lasted, it could have been 2 minutes or 2 hours. The spell was finally broken when the little bartender returned. “Hey,” they barked, snapping Keith out of his reverie. “The boss will see you now.”

Keith cleared his throat, shaking his head in an attempt to get the Cuban beauty out of his mind. With a lingering glance at El Leon, Keith followed Pidge behind the bar and into the dingy hallway.

The red wallpaper was faded, and the carpet was worn, but there was a well-loved feel in the air, like someone had really put an effort into making the shabby place look a little more presentable. 

At the end of the short hallway, Pidge opened a door and turned back to Keith. “In here,” they said, gesturing for Keith to enter. 

Keith passed Pidge, nodding a small thanks, and surveyed the room. It was small, but again, well-loved. The same red wallpaper decorated the walls, along with old fashioned candle sconces and a few paintings. Red velvet furniture peppered the room, which would have made it look opulent if not for the faded quality of the fabric. A large desk dominated the room and was by far the nicest piece of furniture there. A good, solid walnut, Keith mused. A large man sat in a plush looking chair behind the imposing desk. His longish hair was pulled back from his face with a cloth band, and he held a lit cigar in one hand, though he did not appear to be interested in smoking it.

Keith stepped forward and sat in the velvet chair on the other side of the desk from the large man. 

“Hunk, I presume,” Keith droned, adopting the bored but in control work façade he was famous for. 

“Indeed” replied the man- Hunk. “And you are-“

“Keith,” he supplied. “I assume you know why I am here.”

“I have a few guesses, but why don’t you enlighten me,” Hunk leaned back in his chair, still not even looking at the cigar between his fingers. 

“I represent a certain individual who would like to do business with you,” Keith also leaned back in his chair, though he didn’t look nearly as impressive doing it as Hunk did, he noted with annoyance. Blame it on the shabby chair he was seated on.

“Business?” Hunk raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else.

“Did I fucking stutter?” Keith snapped, then bit back a curse. Usually he was more unflappable than this, but something about this large man caught him off guard. 

“No need to be rude,” Hunk smiled a little, “though it is nice to see the real you under that ‘too-cool-for-you’ persona you wear.”

Keith’s gaze sharpened. The man was more intelligent than Keith had originally given him credit for. Hunk sighed, and stubbed out the cigar still without taking a hit from it. 

“Look,” he said, crossing his hands across his chest, “I’m not gonna say no to a business deal from the leader of the most feared gang in New York. What is Allura interested in?”

“Merely in expanding the business. You sell alcohol, and so do we. It seems we could benefit from each other.” Hunk nodded. 

“Buying alcohol is getting riskier by the day. But how would buying from The Paladin’s benefit me?” Hunk asked, his eyes never leaving Keith’s face. 

“Protection, naturally,” Keith said, “as well as some of the best tasting alcohol to come out of this damn prohibition, if I do say so myself.”

Hunk smiled, “Allura’s moonshine is one of the best I’ve tasted.” 

Keith smiled wolfishly back. “So do we have a deal?” Hunk thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I believe we do,” He said, leaning over the desk to shake Keith’s hand, offering the boy a small smile. Keith returned it without thinking, then quickly squashed it with his signature frown. 

“I’ll send someone tomorrow night with the first shipment,” He said, standing. Hunk stood as well and made a noise of confirmation. 

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you,” he said. 

“And you,” Keith stopped in front of the door, hand inches from the handle. “I have to know one thing first.” Hunk paused in the act of sitting back down. 

“Anything for a new business partner,” he said cautiously. Keith turned back to him.

“Why the cigar?” 

Hunk laughed, actually laughed, in front of one of New York’s most dangerous men. “I can’t stand the smell or the taste, but I’m told it makes me look more intimidating, what do you think?” 

Keith smiled, he couldn’t help it. What a ridiculous reason. “I think it works quite well for you, Hunk.”

***

As Keith headed out from behind the bar, he spotted Pidge, who had resumed their dizzying motion behind the bar. They paused as Keith entered the club, nodding at him solemnly. “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of you from now on,” they said, eyeing Keith, not without a bit of suspicion. 

“I guess you will,” Keith tipped his hat at the bartender as he made his way through the crowded room. He was tired, it had been a long day. All he wanted to do was get home, put some music on and settle down with a nice book. He was almost to the door when it happened. He was so distracted with the thoughts of a lazy evening in that he didn’t see the person crossing in front of him. 

The collision was pretty spectacular, as crashes go. Both of them ended up on the floor, legs tangled, the glass of alcohol that had been in the other person’s hand shattering on the ground. 

“I am so sorry,” came a familiar voice in Keith’s ear. Keith looked up and found himself nose to nose with those spectacular blue eyes. “Are you okay?” El Leon Azul asked, attempting to untangle himself from under Keith. 

“Oh, yes,” Keith found that he could, in fact, speak, and he quickly jumped into action, standing and helping El Leon up. The assistant bartender was already there, sweeping up the broken glass. With the crash over and done with, the club goers had stopped staring and resumed their activities. 

Keith’s hand lingered on El Leon’s for a moment, reveling in the feel of silky brown skin against his. He was jolted back to reality when El Leon cleared his throat loudly. Keith dropped his hands, an uncharacteristic blush staining his cheeks. 

“Sorry,” he said gruffly, attempting to get whatever shred of dignity he could back. El Leon smiled at him, and in that moment, Keith didn’t care about dignity. 

“Its okay, Mr.-“

“Keith, just Keith is okay,” he was stumbling over his words, looking like a prize idiot. What was wrong with him, he was usually much more smooth that this!

“Keith then,” El Leon’s smile never dimmed one bit. “I’m El Leon Azul, but my friends call me Lance.”

“Lance, that’s a pretty name,” Keith was captivated by this boy’s face, his body, his-

“Sorry, what?” Lance said, tilting his head in the most adorable fashion. “It’s kind of loud, could you say that again?” 

For the millionth time that night, Keith jolted out of whatever dreamland Lance sent him to and came crashing back to reality. Like someone as beautiful as Lance would ever be anything but disgusted by a compliment from Keith. Keith was a gangster with a blood stained past and Lance was so beautiful and graceful. The only think Keith could do now was save a little face and then get out of there as fast as he could. 

“Uh, I said that’s a shitty name, bye.” Keith half shouted as he pushed past Lance and rushed the door. Nice save Kogane, he thought, nice save. 

***

Lance watched Keith’s back as he scurried for the door as if he had just been set on fire. A small frowned marred his face. It was entirely uncalled for to call his name shitty. Pity he was so rude, because he was the most handsome thing to walk into this damn bar since, Lance couldn’t remember. A long time, at any rate.

Still, a small part of him hoped the man would be back soon. Only so he could say that Keith was an even shittier name. At least, that’s what Lance tried to convince himself.  
He wandered over to the bar, deftly avoiding grabby hands with the grace that comes from years of practice. 

“So, who was that?” He said to Pidge as he leaned against the bar. He had been going for a casual vibe, but the look Pidge gave him said that he wasn’t fooling anyone. 

“Keith Kogane, one of New York’s most feared gangsters, second in command of the Paladin Gang.” Pidge listed. “He’s a bad dude, you should stay away.”

“I wasn’t gonna do anything,” Lance protested. Again, Pidge gave him their patented ‘yeah-fucking-right’ stare. 

“Sure you weren’t buddy,” Pidge drawled, wiping a glass with a dishtowel. “Like you didn’t do anything with the governor, or that one movie star who visited, or –“

“Ok, ok, I get it. So I have a terrible dating history.” Lance plopped his head onto his arms that were folded in front of him on the bar. “I just want a fairy-tail romance where my knight in shining armor rides up on his white horse and we dance into the sunset, eternally in love. Is that too much to ask for?”

Pidge snorted, “Yeah, I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.” They said. “Now if you would please stop distracting me, some of us have actual work to do.” 

“Yeah, yeah get to it,” Lance waved Pidge away, content to wallow in self-pity for a little while longer. His pity party didn’t last very long, though. There was a muffled grunt as someone took the barstool next to him. He didn’t look up at first, not caring until the scent hit his nose. He would recognize that cologne anywhere. He sat up so fast he almost fell off his stool. 

“Sendak,” He said breathlessly, fear gripping his lungs in a vise, “w - what are you doing here?” Sendak turned one yellow eye on him. Lance’s body had gone cold. 

“What am I here for?” Sendak said quietly, “You know why I’m here. Surely even you aren’t that stupid.”

“But, it’s too early, I still have four weeks,” Lance protested. Sendak huffed impatiently. 

“Circumstances have changed. I’m moving the deadline up to three weeks.” He said. 

“Three weeks! That’s too soon!” Lance protested, but his words choked off as a strong hand grabbed his arm and held tight enough to bruise.

“I think you’re forgetting who has the power here, slut.” Sendak hissed. “It’s me, in case that pea brain of yours still doesn’t get it. I decide what I want from you and when I get it. Not you. Comprende?”

Lance nodded shakily. “I understand, I’m sorry, sir.” 

“Good,” Sendak flung Lance’s arm away and this time, he really did stumble off his stool. “Then we’re done here.” 

Lance was happy for the dismissal as he took off in the other direction. He didn’t stop, not even when he heard Pidge calling. He ran straight to his room above the speakeasy and locked the door, shakily sinking to his knees. 

Lance tried as hard as he could, but he couldn’t stop the tears that started trickling down his cheeks. Damn Sendak, he thought as he angrily scrubbed at the wetness on his face. Only he could get this kind of reaction out of Lance. It was pathetic. Lance clenched his hands against his knees. He could do this, he told himself. For his family, he could do anything.


	2. The Raid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance meet again, hopefully Keith will get his shit together this time. Also, Allura meets a mysterious stranger, I wonder who it could be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, I wrote this whole fic in a week for my lil sis, so I'll be posting a new chapter each day. Hope you enjoy! Also be warned that this is the chapter with the really REALLY light smut. Do with that what you will.

“I don’t see why you need to be here,” grouched Keith, crossing his arms and looking irritably at the girl on his left. 

“You know I make a point of visiting all my new business partners, darling,” Allura breezed ahead of him towards the Yellow Lion. Allura was known for shocking people due to her love of a striped pin suit, something that was not at all common for a woman to wear. Tonight, however, she had opted for what she called ‘a more casual look’, which of course meant a bright gold beaded flapper dress and headband. She was a knockout, and several heads turned to watch her as she headed down the street.

Keith just rolled his eyes. Even if he had been into women, Allura would have been much too flashy for his taste. He sullenly followed her passed the bodyguard standing at attention in front of the door into the speakeasy. 

As they made their way into the club, Keith’s eyes found themselves searching for a certain dark haired siren who had been haunting his dreams for the week since he’d been here. Lance wasn’t anywhere in sight, and Keith didn’t know if he was glad or sad about that.

“This place is cute,” Allura commented, lowering herself into a chair next to a low table. Keith took the seat opposite her and grunted in response. Allura glanced over at him appraisingly. “What’s got you all Mr. Grumpy Pants today?” she asked.

Keith huffed. “I’m not grumpy, I’m the strong and silent type.” Allura paused, then started laughing, like really out loud cackling and slapping the table laughing. Keith scowled. “No need to be mean,” he groused.

Allura was wiping tears from her eyes. “You are too funny, Keith,” she said, giggling.

“Yeah, yeah, do you want some booze or not.” Keith stood. “I for one need something strong.”

Allura waved a graceful hand. “Get me whatever darling,” She said.

Keith nodded and headed towards the bar. Pidge was there, still moving like a gremlin on caffeine. 

“Oh, it’s you,” they said, looking up at Keith.

“It’s me,” he said. “Can I get two of your strongest drinks?” Pidge nodded and began preparing them. When he placed two glasses in front of Keith, a familiar voice came from behind him. 

“His drinks are on me tonight, Pidge.” Keith spun and found himself confronted with El Leon himself. “So we meet again, Keith.” Lance smiled. “And before we get to anything else, I’ve been waiting to tell you something since the last time I saw you.” 

Lance took a hold of Keith’s elbow and drew him closer. Keith’s breathing started coming out in pants. His mind was racing. And damn, did Lance smell good. Like something spicy he couldn’t quite place. Lance’s lips touched Keith’s ear as he spoke and Keith could feel his soul leaving his body. He was so overwhelmed by the closeness of the Cuban singer that it took him a minute to realize what Lance was saying. 

“Keith is a shitty name too, ya bastard.” Lance pulled back with an irritating smirk covering his face. Keith was speechless, which did not happen often. 

“I, um,” Keith stuttered. Lance held his eyes for a few more seconds, then broke the stare, laughing good-naturedly. 

“But I like your honesty kid,” He said, slapping Keith on the back and taking a seat next to where Keith still leaned on the bar. 

“Kid?” Keith managed. “How old are you?” Lance smiled up at him.

“The ripe old age of 22. And yourself?” Keith allowed a smug smile to cross his lips. 

“23. Who’s the kid now?” he chuckled. 

“Aw man, I don’t believe that.” Lance drawled. “You have the cutest baby face I’ve ever seen. I would have guessed 17.”

Keith scowled. “Well you would have been wrong. April 20th, 1903.” 

Lance whistled. “Yeah, you probably can’t do math that quick, so you must have really been born that year.”

Keith’s scowl deepened. “Well then when were you born genius?”

Lance laughed. “I don’t know how asking me my date of birth is gonna prove that I’m stupid, but if you must know its July 8th, 1904.” Keith also didn’t see how knowing the boy’s birthday would prove that he was the smarter one, but he was still glad to know it for some reason.

“Well, whatever.” Keith plopped onto the stool next to Lance and downed the drink in front of him. Thank goodness he was used to that sort of thing in his line of work and didn’t sputter and choke on it too much. He had already looked like enough of an idiot tonight. 

“So you’re not singing tonight,” Keith asked, glancing at Lance to see how a serious question instead of playful banter would go over. 

“I am, in about an hour. That’s usually when the place is most crowded.” Keith nodded. 

Lance slid his eyes over to Keith. “Keep me company for an hour then, chief?” he asked. Keith was nodding before Lance even finished the sentence. “Good,” Lance signaled Pidge for a drink for himself. “I usually get so bored waiting around for my show to start.”

“Well I’ll try to prevent that then,” Damn, why did everything he say have to sound so awkward. Keith cursed his inexperience with flirting. Because that’s what they were doing. Keith was man enough to admit to that at least. 

“So who was this other drink for?” Lance gestured towards the untouched glass in front of Keith. 

“Huh,” Keith looked at the glance in confusion, then cursed. “Shit, I’ll be right back,” he said, picking up the booze and heading back to where Allura sat waiting.

“Well that took a while,” she observed coolly as he approached the table.

“Sorry boss, I got distracted.” Keith placed the glass on the table. 

“By that handsome young man, yes I saw. Are you retuning to him and leaving your poor companion all alone to fend for herself?” Allura fluttered her eyelashes in an attempt to look more damsel-in-distress.

Keith chuckled. “You and me both know that you could take on every person here. And yes, I am returning to him now.”

Allura smiled suggestively. “Be safe, honey.” 

Keith gave her a small salute. “Always am, boss.” Allura chuckled as Keith turned around and headed back to Lance.

“So, who was that?” Lance asked when Keith sat back down. 

“Why? Are you jealous?” Keith asked as a joke, but stopped when he saw a faint blush dusting Lance’s cheeks. “Oh wow, you are jealous.” Keith started laughing, not stopping even when Lance delivered a surprisingly hard punch to his arm. 

“Shut up, I’m not jealous!” Lance hissed furiously. 

“Well even if you were, you didn’t need to be,” Keith chuckled, rubbing his arm where Lance had punched him. “That’s Allura, she’s my boss. And I’m not into women.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “The Allura?” he asked, awe creeping into his voice. “Wow. I’ve heard stories, but wow.” Keith nodded.

“She is pretty impressive right now. Not so much when you have to hold her hair while she’s bent over the toilet after a night of partying.” 

Lance snorted. “Yeah, I guess that would squash any fancy stories, wouldn’t it.” Lance chuckled. There was a pause, then “So you’re not into women, huh. Like at all?” Lance asked. Keith shook his head. 

“Never have been. How about you?” He glanced over at Lance. What if Lance only liked women? Had he been misreading all of the signs? Were they even flirting earlier? 

“I play for both teams, if you catch my meaning,” Lance supplied. Keith breathed a sigh of relief. So he was into men; that was good. Maybe Keith really did have a chance. Only one way to find out. 

He took a deep breath. “Hey, so I was wondering,” Lance turned to look at him and Keith was caught in those beautiful baby blues. “Um, do you-“ 

Keith’s next words were swallowed by a loud crashing noise, and the sound of gunshots. Keith’s reflexes had him already on the floor, his body covering Lance’s. 

“What,” Lance started to try and sit up, but Keith pushed him more firmly under his body, ignoring the tingles he felt where their skin was touching. 

“Stay down,” he hissed as he pulled his gun out from his arm holster and looked around the speakeasy. There was dust from where the door had been blown open, as well as all the gun smoke marring his vision. What he could see made his stomach drop. “It’s a raid.” 

Cops were streaming in through the door, guns blazing and shouting for people to get on the ground. The people in the bar were decidedly not getting on the ground, scurrying around like rats in a sewer.

“Shit.” Lance swore, peeking over Keith’s shoulder. “Come on, I know a secret tunnel.” Keith breathed a sigh of relief. Most speakeasies had secret tunnels for situations just like this, but usually only the employees knew about them. Thank god he had one handy. 

Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and started to pull him towards the stage. “Wait,” Keith paused and tugged on Lance’s hand. “I need to find Allura.” Lance looked around in frustration. 

“You’re never gonna find her in this mess and we need to get out now. From what I heard, she can take care of herself.” Lance had a point, and a police officer spotting them made his decision for him. 

“Let’s go” he agreed. He could hear shouting behind him, and when he turned back, he saw Pidge of all people standing on the bar with, was that a machine gun? 

“Eat this ya dirty cops!” Pidge shouted, letting the bullets fly from what was indeed a heavy duty machine gun. Where the hell Pidge got something like that or how the hell they were managing to hold and shoot the gun that was almost as big as them, Keith did not know, but he filed it away to laugh over later.

Lance pulled Keith onto the stage and they darted behind the velvet curtain. Lance released Keith’s hand and he allowed himself a moment to miss the feel of it before he went back into survival mode. He whipped around to keep a watch out as Lance kneeled and began prying up the wooden boards of the floor. The cop that had spotted them leapt onto the stage and grinned maliciously at the two. 

“You’ve lost, just give yourselves over to Zarkon’s mercy.” The cop sneered, creeping towards them.

“No way in hell,” Keith said as he aimed his pistol and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the cop in the leg, where Keith had intended it to go. Keith was a killer, and had killed before, but he didn’t like doing it if not strictly necessary. The cop went down with a groan, and Keith spun to find Lance lowering himself into the hole in the stage. 

“Come on,” Lance said, ducking down. Keith quickly followed suit and crouched out of the way while Lance pulled the boards back into place. “Hold my hand, I know the way,” Lance whispered into the darkness. Keith was only too happy to take the man’s hand again and be led down the pitch black tunnel. They went along it for a few minutes, until Lance whispered. “Careful, there are stairs here.” They cautiously made their way up the dark flight of stairs until a bit of light appeared, streaming through a hole in the ceiling. 

Again, Lance released Keith’s hand and cautiously peered through the hole. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he pushed the ceiling and it opened to reveal another room.   
“Let me go first,” Keith insisted, gently pulling Lance back. He pulled himself up through the square hole into a brightly lit room. It was small and cozy, obviously someone’s apartment. Keith didn’t have much time to look around before he was turning back to help Lance out of the hole. 

“Where are we?” Keith asked, again surveying the place. A cozy couch, record player, and shelves upon shelves of books and records were what took his gaze the most.

“My apartment,” Lance admitted. This news made Keith take even more of an interest in trying to take in everything, but Lance was pulling at him again. “Come on, we need to hide. Sometimes they search these apartments above the speakeasy.” Lance slid the trapdoor shut and covered it with a small rug, then lead Keith into another room. 

Keith took in the large bed dominating the room and swallowed. Now was not the time for thoughts about what he and Lance could do in that bed. Lance opened his closet and pushed aside his clothes to reveal a small door.

“You really have this covered, don’t you,” Keith asked as Lance opened the door to reveal a small room.

“Comes with the job,” Lance replied as he gestured for Keith to enter first. After Keith had ducked into the little room, Lance closed his closet doors and pulled the clothes back. He backed into the room and slid the door shut. “The door is almost impossible to see if you don’t know to look for it.”

Keith nodded, though he realized that was stupid as there was no light in the room. Lance shuffled around for a bit, then Keith could hear the distinctive sound of a match being lit. The little flare of light lit up Lance’s face, the dancing colors and shadows making his beautiful face seem almost ethereal. Lance leaned over and lit a small gas lamp on the table, illuminating the room.

There were blankets and pillows scattered around, as well as a few books and a basket of food on a small table. Keith lowered himself onto the pillows, and Lance plopped down next to him. 

“We could be here for while until things get sorted down there,” Lance said, making himself comfortable on the plush pillows. “So settle in partner.” Keith stiffly lay back on the pillows and Lance chuckled. “At least take your hat and jacket off.”

Keith sat up to comply, and found he did feel a lot more comfortable without his jacket confining him. He could also see Lance a lot better without his hat on, which was both a blessing and a curse. Everything looks better by candlelight, and that went double for Lance. 

The Cuban had closed his eyes as he relaxed on the pillows, allowing Keith to look his fill. Caramel skin lightly dusted with freckles over that adorable pert nose. Pink lips that were just begging to be kissed. Keith made his way across Lance’s face, cataloging every feature, trying to keep it in his mind forever. 

As he perused up Lance’s face, he was startled to notice that his eyes were open. Keith looked down, his pale face flushing deep red at being caught staring. 

“Hey,” Lance’s voice was gentle as he put a hand on Keith’s arm. “No need to be shy here.” He pulled lightly on Keith’s elbow and Keith went along with the motion until he found himself lying next to Lance on the pillows. Since the pillows were so fluffy, this meant that they were pressed together from shoulder to hip. 

Keith flushed again, though he didn’t know why. It wasn’t like he was a virgin or anything, though you wouldn’t have guessed that from all these stupid reactions he was having to the beautiful boy next to him. 

Slowly, he glanced up and found Lance staring at him. He couldn’t look away as the two lay there, their noses touching slightly. 

“Is this,” Lance whispered. “Is this okay?” Keith looked up into Lance’s eyes at the question. No one had ever asked him that before, not in a situation like this. Keith licked his lips, drawing Lance’s attention to them. 

“Yes,” he whispered, inching closer and closer. Their lips were brushing now, and he felt Lance’s smile as he said “good,” and then there was no more space between them.

The kiss was amazing. Usually, Keith wasn’t a big fan of it, but with Lance it was like a whole new sensation. Lance’s lips moved over his as rhythmically as he sang, his light groans were music to Keith’s ears. Keith looked up to see that Lance’s eyes were closed, so he allowed his to slid shut as well. 

Their bodies were still, there was time to explore that later. For now, it was just about them and where their lips were connected. Lance pulled back slightly, panting, eyes dazed, but smiling. 

“How was that,” Lance asked.

Keith chuckled a little. “Are you asking me to rate your kissing skills,” he asked. Lance shook his head. 

“I already know I’m a 10/10 baby,” He said confidently, grinning cockily at Keith. Keith grinned and shook his head.

“I don’t know about that high,” he said, letting his voice trail off. The grin slid off Lance’s face. 

“Wait, really? Was it bad?” Lance looked actually genuinely worried, which Keith found endlessly endearing. He allowed a small smile to pull at his lips.

“Yeah, I just don’t think I have enough information to make a true judgement,” Keith said. “Maybe I need to try it again.” The smile returned to Lance’s face as he understood what Keith was saying.

“I think we can arrange that,” he said as he leaned over Keith, their twin smiles of joy quickly melting into soul wrenching kisses. Where their first kiss had been sweet and innocent, this one was quickly turning into something more. Lance slid his body over Keith’s and the kisses grew heated. 

Keith groaned into Lance’s mouth, his hands sliding over the broad back on top of him. Lance’s hands were sliding down his chest, getting close, so close to where he wanted them most. Keith gasped into Lance’s mouth as he felt the other man’s fingers on his belt buckle when a loud bang had them flying apart. 

They panted, looking at each other, not quite realizing what had happened until another bang rang through the room. Lance quickly extinguished the lamp. 

“They must be searching my apartment,” he whispered as he crawled back over to Keith. The two cuddled together on the pillow, the mood gone. 

They waited in tense silence while the listened to the cops rummage around Lance’s apartment. There was a heart stopping moment when they heard the closet doors open, but the cop obviously didn’t see the door and quickly moved on. After about 10 minutes, it became clear that the cops weren’t gonna find anything, and they left. 

Both Lance and Keith released big sighs as the tension visibly left their bodies. Lance relit the lamp and turned towards Keith.

“So,” he said.

“So.” Agreed Keith. There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Lance broke it. 

“So, uh, I actually, really like you,” he said, face turning a tomato red. Keith was stunned. Sure, they had just been sucking each other’s faces, but you could do that with someone you didn’t like. “And I was wondering if maybe we could do this again?” Lance said this all in a rush, forcing the words out in one breath. 

Keith had to chuckle at that. “You mean the hiding from the cops and wondering if we are gonna die or go to jail?” he asked. 

Lance huffed out a small laugh. “No, more the kissing and stuff.” He said shyly.

Keith smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. A lot actually.” Lance looked up from where he had been fixedly staring at the ground. A beautiful smile lit the room up brighter than the lamp ever could.

“Really?” Lance said eagerly, before seeming to remember himself. “I mean, who couldn’t resist the Lance Man?” he added arrogantly. 

Keith laughed out loud at that. “Whatever you say Lance Man. Now get back over here. Who knows if those cops might come back. It’s probably safer to stay in here for the rest of the night.”

Lance’s smile turned coquettish. “You’re probably right,” he said huskily as he crawled back over to Keith. He leaned forward until their lips were touching. “Keith Man,” he added, swallowing Keith’s answering laugh into his mouth. 

And then there were no cops, no speakeasy, so gangs or pasts that were better left hidden. There was just the two of them, entwined in each other in the dying light of the candle. 

***

Allura’s instincts kicked in the moment the doors to the speakeasy were blasted open. Within seconds, she was on the ground, having pushed the table she was sitting at onto its side as a shield, pistol from her thigh holster in hand. 

This was far from Allura’s first raid, and no doubt it would not be her last. Not if she had anything to say about it. She wasn’t even all that worried. Even if she was taken by the cops, she had enough contacts in the force and with various lawyers that she would be out within a few hours. Her more immediate worry was about getting shot in the confusion. 

She glanced over to where Keith had been sitting at the bar and spotted him hurrying towards the stage, being towed along by the pretty boy he had been sitting with. At least that was one less thing she had to worry about. 

Glancing to her right, Allura saw the coast was clear. A cop was quickly approaching her hiding spot, bullets ricocheting off the surprisingly durable wooden table. Tucking her legs, Allura rolled forward, feeling a bullet miss her shoulder by a few inches. She slammed her back up to another fallen table and took a moment to survey the room.

The bar, if she could make it behind the bar there would no doubt be a secret passage out somewhere in there. Allura paused and spun to peer over the top of the table, cops were still engaged in a shootout with several of the bodyguards. Allura raised her arm and put two bullets into the mix as well, just for the hell of it.

Allura loved a good shootout, but it would probably be wise to save her bullets for now, so she didn’t shoot anymore. Allura got up into a crouch and, after a deep breath, plunged forward. She could hear a few bullets pinging around her. Luckily, New York cops had notoriously bad aim. Allura leapt over the bar onto the sticky floor. 

She was startled to come face to face with a large machine gun, wielded by a surprisingly small person. 

“Out of the way,” they said, stepping over her and up onto the bar.

“Take this ya dirty cops,” they shouted as they began firing round after round of the machine gun. Allura smiled. She would have to come back and meet this person under better circumstances, they definitely seemed like Allura’s favorite kind of bartender. 

That was for another time, however. She began looking around, trying to find some sign of a trap door.

“Psst,” a voice came from behind her. She whirled around, pistol at the ready, to find a young man peering out at her from a trap door in the floor.

“Well that was easy,” Allura said as she pushed the young man’s face down into the hole and jumped in herself, slamming the door shut behind her. 

“Ow,” the man’s voice was muffled from where Allura’s hand was still squashed against his face. 

“Are you a cop?” Allura asked, pressing harder into the guy’s face.

“Mph mm,” the guy said. Cautiously, Allura pulled her hand back so that the guy could actually talk.

“Thank you,” he said. It was dark, so Allura couldn’t see, but it sounded like the guy was rubbing his face. Allura felt a little bad, sometimes she underestimated her own strength. 

From the brief glimpse she had seen when the guy had peeked at her from the trap door, he was youngish, maybe mid-twenties. Dark hair, from what Allura had been able to see, and a large scar stretching from one cheek to the other over the bridge of his nose.

“Now, would I be hiding from the cops if I was a cop?” the guy asked.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Allura was stubborn, she had dealt with too many undercover men to take this lightly. 

The man chuckled slightly. “Good point, doll. No, I’m not a cop.” 

“Hmmm,” Allura was still not entirely convinced, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now. 

“Got a light?” she asked the guy, cursing her decision to wear this dress instead of the one with pockets.

“Oh, yeah,” Allura could hear the guy shuffling around until there was familiar sound of a match being lit. The small flame flared up, revealing a shocking strip of white in the man’s hair. Allura kind of liked it, her own hair being a white color as well.

“Now that we can see each other, you got a name darling?” The man smiled that kind of easy smile that told Allura that he knew he was handsome, and pretty used to getting what he wanted. 

She snorted. “How about you, you got a name?” She asked. 

“Well, since I’m a gentleman, I’ll go ahead and tell you. It’s Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me Shiro.” The man’s voice was arrogant, but Allura prided herself on her ability to read below the surface.

“You can drop the act, buddy. I’m not buying it.” Allura said, crossing her arms. Shiro’s smile melted a little. 

“Ah, what-“ they were interrupted by a loud thud on the trap door above them.

“Shit,” Shiro cursed, dropping the match and stepping on it, then grabbing Allura’s hand and pulling her down the suddenly pitch dark hallway. Allura wanted to ask where they were going, but worried her voice might carry to the cops above them.

They kept going for a few minutes, until Allura was pretty sure they weren’t under the speakeasy anymore. “Where are we,” she whispered cautiously.

“I have no idea,” Shiro admitted, “I found this trap door, but I have no idea where it goes.” Allura shook her head. Typical. They kept going until they saw a sliver of light up ahead. They hurried their pace towards it. 

Allura was hit with the sound of the docks and the smell of the ocean. She pushed past Shiro and peered out the thin slat in the door.

“I know where we are,” Allura said. She checked for cops but didn’t see any, so she cautiously pushed open the door and stepped out onto the filthy New York street. Shiro followed closely behind her, also carefully looking around for trouble. 

“Come with me,” Allura said. She was pretty sure the guy wasn’t a cop, though he did have that goody-two shoes kind of feel to him. But he had saved her ass back there, so the least she could do was help to keep him safe until the morning when all the fuss was over. 

Surprisingly, Shiro followed without complaint, seemingly happy to let Allura lead him. That was unusual, most men Allura dealt with hated deferring the leader position to her. Allura found herself liking this boy more and more. 

Allura knew a little café near here, and she knew the owner would help hide them from any cops, so she decided that would be their best bet. After a few minutes of silent walking, she stopped in front of the worn out café. 

It was late, so naturally it was closed, but after a few minutes of pounding on the door, it was opened to reveal a tall man with very orange hair and an orange mustache to match. 

“Oh, it’s you,” he said, eyeing the two bedraggled people in front of him. “Well you’d better come in.” He led them through the small but cute café and into the back, revealing a warm kitchen. 

“Thank you, Coran.” Allura said. “You can go back to bed, I know you need you need your beauty sleep.” Allura gave him a look that showed she was more telling than asking.

“Of course, Princess,” Coran gave a little mock bow and headed back up the stairs. Allura sat at a small table and gestured for Shiro to take a seat across from her. 

“What did you mean, you weren’t buying the act?” he asked as he took a seat, looking at Allura. 

Allura snorted. “That arrogant, I’m-totally-in-control act. You have nice boy written all over you pal.” She said, chuckling a little. Shiro laughed with her.

“Wow, most people are only too happy to assume that I think the world of myself and don’t care about anyone else.”

“That’s because that’s how most people are, so they think other people are like them as well.” Allura paused while she pulled a cigarette from her bra. She popped it in her mouth and looked expectantly at Shiro. He hesitated, until in clicked in his mind.

“Oh, sorry,” he pulled his matchbox from his pocket and lit one, holding it to the end of Allura’s cigarette. She was gazing at him, making him squirm a little. Oh, how Allura loved making men squirm with her intimidating stare.

As Shiro pulled his arm back, she noticed that it was made of metal. It was not unusual for people to be missing various limbs, not in her world of gangs and violence. But Shiro’s arm prosthetic seemed especially advanced. She filed it away in her mind as something to mull over later. 

“But you’re not.” She commented, taking a drag from the cig.

“Not what?” Shiro asked cautiously. 

“Not like those other people. You actually care about others, I can tell.” People like Shiro were a bit of a novelty, especially in Allura’s line of work.

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck, his face flushing a little. “I guess,” he mumbled. There was an awkward silence while they both appraised each other. “You know, you never told me your name,” Shiro said, leaning a little closer on the table. 

Allura removed the cigarette from her mouth and blew the smoke directly into Shiro’s face as she leaned forward as well. He didn’t even flinch. Oh, Allura liked this one.

“It’s Allura,” she said, peering at Shiro. Her name was pretty well known throughout New York, most people recognized it. She always loved seeing the different ways people reacted to finding out who she was. Shiro did not disappoint.

His eyes widened and he rocked back in his seat a little. “Oh wow, you’re that Allura?” he asked.

Allura snorted. “The one and only Allura, thank you very much.” She said snidely. 

Shiro shook his head. “Right, of course. Sorry.” Allura waved her hand to dismiss the apology. “So um, this might sound weird but I was actually looking for you.” Allura’s eyebrows crept upwards. 

“Were you now?” she asked. “What for?” Allura was cautious. She was used to people asking her for favors or other such things. She thought Shiro wasn’t that kind of person, but had she misread him?

“Um, yeah. I kind of need a job.” Shiro looked both abashed and eager. Allura thought she couldn’t be shocked yet again tonight, but here she was. 

“A job,” she repeated. Shiro nodded. Well that was certainly interesting. Allura couldn’t deny that she liked the man, and wanted to know more. Keith was gonna kill her for this, but she couldn’t resist. She reached into her bra again, such a handy storage device these bras were, and pulled out her business card. 

“Call that number tomorrow, after all this fuss has dies down,” she said, sliding the card across the table and she stood up. “Now I’m gonna try and get some shut eye upstairs. You can stay here for the night, but you should probably beat it by dawn. Coran doesn’t like other people lounging around in his kitchen.”

Allura headed towards the stairs, swaying her hips a little. She couldn’t help it, the boy was fine. She glanced over her shoulder at the foot of the stairwell.

“I look forward to hearing from you, Shiro.” Shiro started at the sound of his name, the first time Allura had said it that night. By the time his head stopped reeling from hearing his name in that musical voice, Allura was gone.


	3. Confrontation and Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn about Lance's past! Also, lots of emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm at a place where wifi is super spotty, hopefully it won't affect me posting too much. Sorry if it does!

It had been three weeks since the raid, four since Lance had first met Keith, and Keith had been over every single night since. Since that first night in the secret room, things had been going really good. They got along, for the most part. Their personalities occasionally clashed which resulted in some pretty crazy fights, but the make-up sex afterwards had been awesome. 

Keith was coming over again tonight, and Lance was making arroz con pollo, his abuela’s recipe. He was sure that Keith was going to like it, he had liked pretty much everything else Lance had made. Lance wasn’t even that much of a cook, he often ate out when he was living alone, but he found that he enjoyed making dishes that Keith liked. He decided that he would go to the Korean market down the street so he could try and make something that might make Keith remember his childhood.

The thought made Lance pause. He liked Keith, like, really liked Keith. They had a great time together, and there was no denying their physical attraction to each other. However, Lance couldn’t help feeling like their connection was only skin deep.

Lance knew this was partly his fault. He had a past he did not want Keith to know about, and often avoided certain topics in order to keep it that way. But Lance found himself wanting more and more to share his past with Keith, to make that connection.

He just didn’t know if Keith felt the same, and that scared him. A lot. 

There was a knock at the door and Lance glanced at the clock. Keith was early. He scurried over to the door and yanked it open. Pain exploded in his nose before he could register anything else. Lance fell back on to the floor, clutching his now bleeding nose, and looked up through eyes streaming tears. 

Sendak stood over him, fist clenched and knuckles red with Lance’s blood, breathing heavily. Desperately, Lance started to scramble back, but Sendak slammed the apartment door and grabbed Lance’s ankle, pulling him harshly back.

“We had a deal,” Sendak hissed, leaning over Lance. “I need my money now.” Lance flinched away from the imposing man. He had been working his ass off in between seeing Keith, and he had just managed to scrape together enough. He probably wouldn’t be able to make his next rent payment, but that was a problem for future Lance.

“I gave you your money,” Lance gargled around the blood in his mouth. “I gave it to the guy you send every time a payment is due yesterday. Did you have to punch me asshole?”

Sendak grabbed Lance’s shirt and pulled him closer. “I was planning on collecting myself this time. I didn’t send anyone.”

Lance felt the bottom of his stomach drop. “But… but it was the same guy. He comes every time I need to pay you. I would recognize him by now!” Lance felt fear curling in his chest, turning his whole body cold. Sendak cursed.

“Damn Haxus, he must have taken the money and skipped town. I thought it was weird that I hadn’t seen him today,” Sendak was talking to himself, obviously preoccupied, and Lance took the opportunity to try and slip away. He almost got free before Sendak started paying attention again, and yanked him back.

“Don’t think this means that you’re off the hook, brat.” Sendak hissed in Lance’s face. “I still need my money by tomorrow.” Lance gapped at him.

“Are you fucking kidding?” he shouted. “Do you know how long and hard I worked to get that money for you? There’s no fucking way I can get the same amount by tomorrow!”  
“That’s not my fucking problem,” Sendak yelled back.

“Fuck you,” Lance spat. “I’m done with this, get out of my apartment. I shouldn’t be blamed because you couldn’t control your subordinates.” 

Sendak went deadly still, and Lance immediately regretted his words. “So you think you can back out, just like that, huh?” Sendak said quietly. “I’ll show you what I do to people who think they can flake out on me.”

Oh quiznak, was the only thing Lance was able to think before Sendak’s fist crashed into his face again. 

***

Keith was running a bit late today, but he didn’t think Lance would mind. He was looking forward to Lance’s home cooking. Living alone, he mostly ate out, so Lance’s cooking was a special treat.

He hurried up the narrow stairwell and down the hallway towards Lance’s apartment. He paused as he noticed the front door was slightly ajar. That was weird, usually Lance was really careful about keeping his door shut and locked. 

Placing one hand by the gun he wore under his arm, Keith cautiously pushed open the door and peered inside. He didn’t see or hear anything, so he moved into the warm apartment, looking around. 

There was a groan to his left. Whirling around, Keith felt his heart jump into his throat. Lance was laying on the ground, blood staining his clothes and skin, his eyes closed.

“No,” the word left Keith’s mouth involuntarily, just a single syllable full of dread and fear. Keith dropped to his knees next to Lance and grabbed him, trying to be careful of any broken bones. “Lance, Lance! Baby are you awake?” Keith wanted to shake Lance and cry, but he shaking him would only make it worse and crying wouldn’t help anyone.   
“M’wake,” Lance mumbled, his eyes still closed against the pain of his injuries. Keith swiped some blood from Lance’s face. 

“I’m going to call for help,” Keith said, starting to lower Lance to the floor. He knew there was a telephone downstairs in the speakeasy, and Allura also had one on hand. She had a couple doctor contacts, if he could just-

“No,” Lance’s voice was weak but firm, his hand reaching out to snag Keith’s coat. “No doctors, please. I’m fine.” 

“Lance, darling, you are not fine,” Keith knelt back down. 

“Please,” Lance finally opened his eyes a touch, squinting up at Keith. “You mentioned you have some medical experience, can’t you do it?” 

Keith snorted a little, despite the seriousness of the situation. “Patching up my fellow gang members after bar fights hardly counts as medical experience, love.” He said gently, stroking Lance’s bangs back from his forehead. “You need a real doctor.” 

Lance stubbornly shook his head. Keith sighed. “Fine, I’ll see what I can do. Let’s get you into the bathroom.” Slowly, Keith got his arms under Lance’s back and legs. Lance protested a little at being carried “like una princessa” but Keith didn’t care. 

They reached the bathroom and Keith set Lance down on the toilet. “Let’s get you out of these clothes, first,” Keith said, reaching to unclip Lance’s suspenders. 

“Always wanting me naked aren’t you Kogane,” Lance joked, laughing a bit, then wincing. 

“Don’t hurt yourself with those lightning quick jokes,” Keith said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Finally, all of Lance’s clothes were off, and Keith fetched a washcloth and soaked it with some water. He knelt in front of Lance and started wiping blood from his body. After he had cleared all the blood away, he saw that a lot of it had come from scrapes, not cuts, which was good because Keith was miserable at stiches. 

“There are bandages under the sink,” Lance said in a subdued voice. Keith pulled them out and began to bandage Lance up. Neither of them spoke, focused on the task at hand. When Keith had finished, he slumped down a little, looking at his hands stained with Lance’s blood.

A gentle hand came up and touched his cheek. Keith looked up, startled, and saw Lance looking at him with a strange expression.

“You’re crying,” said Lance in a small voice.

“What?” Keith reached up to touch his face. His hand came away wet. “That’s weird,” Keith’s voice trembled, and so did his lip. “What is happening, I haven’t cried in years.” Keith tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob. He covered his mouth with a shaking hand. “Sorry,” he whispered. 

Lance shook his head, tears welling in his eyes as well. “Don’t apologize!” He said fiercely. He leaned forward, despite his injuries and pulled Keith into a tight hug. Keith’s arms went around Lance, but he touched him gingerly, not wanting to hurt him. 

They stayed that way, entwined in each other, for several minutes before Keith pulled away. Lance stroked his face, wiping the tears that still slipped down his cheeks. Keith leaned into the touch, and placed a kiss in Lance’s palm.

“Are you going to ask what happened?” Lance asked quietly. 

“Not if you don’t want to tell me,” Keith said carefully. Lance looked at him for a long moment.

“I do,” he admitted. “I want to tell you everything about me.” 

“Let’s get somewhere more comfortable,” Keith stood and helped Lance to his feet. Together they moved slowly from the bathroom down the hall to Lance’s bedroom. Keith helped Lance into a pair of pajama bottoms and a loose cotton pajama shirt and pulled back the covers on the bed. After helping Lance into them, Keith slid under as well and pulled the blanket over them. He pulled Lance to his chest and they lay there like that for a while.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Lance cleared his throat. “You probably couldn’t tell by my accent, but I wasn’t born here in the States. I was born in Cuba. My parents were very poor, and my dad needed to borrow money a lot to make rent and buy groceries. When I was 16, he lost his job at the factory and couldn’t pay the money lender. 

They were desperate, they didn’t know what to do. I was the oldest, I have 4 younger siblings. I needed to do something. So I went to the moneylender and told him he could have me. Use me for whatever he needed.”

Keith tightened his arms around Lance, knowing where this might be going, but hoping it wouldn’t. Lance’s arms came up to hold Keith’s.

“I know what you’re probably thinking, but the moneylender wasn’t into men, gracias a Dios. His brother was heading to the States and needed a servant of sorts, someone to do his dirty work. The moneylender said that if I worked for him for 2 years, I would pay off my family’s debts. 

My parents begged me not to go. They are good people, no matter what you might think. They didn’t want their son to pay this price, but I was happy to do it for my family. So I went with the brother to the US. His name is Sendak. After my two years were up, I was ready to leave Sendak and start working and saving money to bring my family here. But Sendak told me that while I was gone, my parents had borrowed more money, and I needed to keep working to pay off their debts. 

I don’t blame my family. It’s hard to get work in Cuba. I’ll keep working as long as they need me too. About 2 years ago, Sendak said it would be okay for me to stop working for him as long as I paid him the equivalent of what my work would earn him every month. 

For some reason, this month he moved up the due date by a week. I’ve been working my ass off, but I managed to scrape together enough. May not be able to pay rent next month.” Lance huffed and Keith cuddled hum closer, letting him talk. “The man he usually sends came by yesterday so I gave him the money like always. But Sendak came by this morning and said he never sent the guy and that he must have taken the money and skipped town. He said I still needed to pay him the money by tomorrow and I told him he was crazy, and that I was done. He said he’s show me what he did to people who tried to back out on him. And then he beat me.” Lance finished his story with a sigh of relief. 

“It feels good to get that off my chest.” He said, “I haven’t really told anyone my story before. Thank you for listening.”

“Of course, love.” Keith said into Lance’s hair. They were quiet, then “So why didn’t you want to go see a doctor?” Keith asked. 

“Well, Sendak didn’t exactly come here legally,” Lance said. “So neither did I. A doctor could send me back, if they were so inclined. No way would I risk leaving this.” Lance paused. “Leaving you,” he whispered, as if afraid of Keith’s reaction.

Keith just cuddled Lance closer. Lance had opened himself up to Keith. He felt closer to him than ever. It was on the tip of Keith’s tongue to tell Lance about his past as well, to return a truth with a truth. However, Keith’s past and Lance’s were very different. Everything Lance had done had been for his family. Lance was a good person, Keith had always known that. 

Keith was decidedly the opposite of a good person. His past was stained in more blood than Lance could ever imagine. So Keith stayed quiet, and pulled Lance closer.   
“You should sleep,” Keith whispered.

“Yeah,” Lance closed his eyes. “I’m just… I’m scared,” he admitted. “Don’t you dare tell anybody I just said that, though.”

Keith smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He pulled away so that he was looking Lance in the face. “I will never let anybody hurt you,” he said fiercely. “You can always count on that.”

Lance’s returning smile was unendingly sweet. “I know,” he said, putting his head on Keith’s chest. “I trust you Keith. You’re my hero.” 

And for a moment, Keith believed him.


	4. Galra Gang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Keith tries to get revenge and it goes about as well as everyone expects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to the chapter that caused the 'Major Character Injury' tag. Did you think it was Lance getting beat up? Nope! So be aware that there is lots of violence in this one. Also, I am so sorry in advance.

The next morning, after practically forcing Lance to promise he would take it easy, Keith left the apartment. He wanted to stay, but he had promised to meet Allura this morning, and he also had some business of his own that he wanted to look into. 

First, he stopped home and made a phone call to a friend. Something about Lance’s story had struck him as being a little off, and he just wanted to check it out. Luckily, he had an old pal who was currently on a business trip in Cuba. Keith asked him to check out some stuff and get back to him as soon as possible.

Keith arrived at The Paladin’s base about 20 minutes after leaving his place. The guards recognized him and let him through, bowing respectfully. Keith stalked through the hallways towards Allura’s office.

Now that he had knew Lance was okay, he was furious. At Sendak for hurting Lance, at Lance for not telling Keith about it sooner. Mostly though, he was furious at himself for not protecting Lance. All this fury put him in a particularly bad mood, and he practically slammed Allura’s door off its hinges as he entered her office. 

“Well good morning to you too, sunshine,” Allura quipped from behind her massive desk. 

“It’s not a good morning,” grumbled Keith, plopping himself into the chair in front of her. 

“What’s got you so riled up?” Allura asked. It was unusual to see Keith showing so much unchecked emotion and she was very interested in what had gotten under his skin.

Keith leaned forward and put his head into his hands. “I couldn’t protect him,” he said quietly. Allura was silent. Keith took a deep breath and looked up at her. “I need to find someone.” He said. 

“What are you going to do when you find this person?” Allura inquired. 

Keith grimaced. “Better you don’t know.” Allura nodded. 

“What can you tell me?” she asked, getting out a pen and paper. Keith had been working at her side for several years and rarely asked for anything, so he knew she was probably happy to finally be able to do something for him as well. She had said as much in the past.

“His name is Sendak, he moved here from Cuba about 6 years ago.” Allura looked up from her writing. 

“Wait, I think I know who you’re talking about.” She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a stack of papers. “We’ve done business with a Cuban named Sendak. It’s a pretty unusual name, so it must be the same guy.” She pulled out one piece from the stack she was rifling through. “Sendak, yes. He is affiliated with the Galra gang.”

Keith swore. Of all the gangs in New York, it had to be that one. 

“Thanks,” he said, standing. 

“You’re not about to do anything reckless, are you?” Allura asked, eyeing Keith. Keith smiled grimly.

“Have I ever been reckless?” he asked, heading out the door before Allura could reply.

“Well shit.” Allura sat back. “I’m about to have to do some serious damage control, aren’t I.”

***

Keith didn’t have to wait long before Sendak left the Galra Gang’s headquarters. Their main building was actually quite nice – the Galra Gang was one of the most powerful gang in New York, second only to the Paladins. 

Keith followed Sendak down the crowded streets until he was far enough away from any form of help. Approaching quickly, Keith waited until Sendak passed an alleyway, then made his move.

He grabbed Sendak by the back of his coat and whipped him around, going too fast for Sendak to reach for his gun.

Keith slammed Sendak against the filthy brick wall in the alley. He grabbed the man’s gun and threw it away, his own gun coming up to rest on Sendak’s nose. 

“What the fuck,” Sendak sputtered.

“Shut up!” Keith hissed, pushing his gun more into Sendak’s nose and using his other arm to press against the man’s neck. Sendak wisely went quiet. 

“You are going to forgive Lance McClain’s debts, all of them. Any further debts, you can bring to me, but I want to see paper proof of the amounts his family borrowed, is that clear?” Keith waited for Sendak to nod. “If I hear that you were even on the same street as him, I will kill you.” Keith pushed harder on the man’s windpipe, the released him. 

Sendak stumbled a little, but regained his balance quickly, rubbing his throat. 

“Now,” Keith put his gun back into the arm holster under his jacket. “I believe Lance owes you a little something for the other day.” With that, Keith pulled his arm back and socked Sendak in the face. The man went down and Keith was on him like a lion on prey. 

It took a lot of control to reign Keith in, but he managed to do it. As much as he wanted to kill the man who had dared to lay a finger on his Lance, it would also cause a lot of problems for Allura, and Keith didn’t want that either.

“Remember what I said, asshole,” Keith said, spitting on Sendak’s body. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped off his bloody hands, as well as places on his clothes and face where blood had splashed. He carelessly tossed the cloth onto Sendak’s prone form, then headed out of the alley, whistling.

***

Lance sighed, resting his head on his arms. 

“Hello there, drama queen,” came a voice from in front of him. Lance looked up to see Pidge peering at him. Lance had been sitting at the bar in the speakeasy. It was currently 3:00, so they were closed, and Lance had wanted to rehearse a bit before they opened. 

He also needed to talk to Hunk, because it might be bad business to have your lead singer looking like he was fresh out of the boxing ring. 

As soon as Pidge caught a glimpse of Lance’s face, they let out a harsh gasp. 

“What happened?!” they asked, gently taking Lance’s chin in their fingers so they could observe his face. Lance shook his head. 

“Probably better you don’t know.” He sighed. Pidge looked unconvinced. 

“Hang on a sec,” they said, heading towards the door leading to the back. Lance plopped his head back into his arms, knowing Pidge was probably fetching Hunk.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Lance felt a large but gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Lance,” came Hunk’s voice. Lance looked up at the big man. Most people were intimidated by Hunk’s size and the tough-guy act he put on for customers, but Lance had known Hunk for years, and knew he was the biggest softie to ever live.

“What happened?” Hunk asked firmly. Lance was stubborn.

“I can’t say.” He said firmly.

Hunk sighed. “At least tell me this,” Hunk pulled Lance’s face up to stare him in the eyes. “Did that boy you’ve been seeing do this to you?”

Lance sat up abruptly. “What? No! Keith would never ever do something like this. He was the one who found me and patched me up!”

Hunk nodded. “Okay, I just needed to make sure.” He released Lance’s face. “But there’s no way you are performing tonight.” Lance started to protest, but Hunk held up a hand. “This isn’t for you, it’s for me. It’s bad business to put you on stage when you look like that.” 

Lance acquiesced rather easily. He was still in a lot of pain, and he didn’t really want to perform anyway. 

“Now go home and get some rest so you can be back here when you don’t look like you were just hit by a truck.” Hunk patted him on the head. 

“You got it boss,” Lance saluted him, then headed for the door. 

“Feel better!” Pidge shouted at his back. Lance waved a little, smiling. He really did have good friends, Lance thought to himself as he headed out of the Yellow Lion and onto the street. He wanted to pick up a few groceries for tonight. He had managed to find a couple of Korean recipes and he wanted to surprise Keith with them as a thanks for taking such good care of him last night. 

Lance blushed as he remembered their interactions last night. It had felt so intimate, even though they hadn’t had sex or anything. Lance was so happy. Keith had listened to his whole story, and had just cuddled him closer. 

Lance had wanted to tell Keith that he was in love with him. It was the truth, but Lance had been afraid of how Keith would react, so he had kept it to himself. Maybe one day soon he would tell him, but not yet. 

Lance was so lost in thought he didn’t see the threat coming until it was already on him. Rough hands grabbed him from behind, pulling him into an unforgiving embrace. A calloused hand slammed down on Lance’s mouth before he could make a noise.

“You think you can get out of what you owe me just because you got yourself a tough boyfriend?” Sendak hissed in his ear. “Think again puta.”

Lance felt a prick in the side of his neck, and then everything went dark. 

***

Consciousness came back to Lance gradually. He saw that he was in a large room, a warehouse it looked like. He also noticed he couldn’t move. As he began to wake up more, feeling started to return to his limbs and Lance realized that he hurt. He closed his eyes against the pain, breathing deeply through his nose. A rough gag was stuffed into his mouth, choking him.

Footsteps sounded and Lance looked up quickly, despite the aches in his body. “So you’ve finally awoken, eh?” Sendak moved forward and into a small patch of light streaming in from the roof. He spoke in Spanish, which was odd. Since coming to the United States, Sendak had never spoken to Lance in Spanish, trying to distance them both from their homeland.

He was also covered in blood and bruises. Lance’s eyes widened as he took in the damage. Sendak was one of the toughest people he knew. Lance really wanted to find who had did that to Sendak and shake their hand.

Lance tried to speak, but his mouth was too muffled by the gag. Sendak shook his head.

“No, you can’t speak right now, I don’t want to hear what you have to say. But I do want to see your reaction when I tell you what is going to happen now.” Sendak put his hands on the back of the chair Lance was tied to, leaning forward so their faces were mere inches away. 

“Now I’m going to send a message to your little boyfriend, and tell him that I have you here.” Lance’s eyes went even wider and he began to shake his head no. Sendak smiled cruelly and grabbed Lance’s chin in his hand, stopping the movements. “And then, when he comes to rescue you, I’m going to give him payback for what he did to me earlier.”   
Lance thought he couldn’t be shocked more, but he was wrong. So Keith did this to Sendak, Lance should have known. Lance was both extremely proud and immensely scared for Keith. 

“And after I’ve taken care of your amor, I’m going to ship your ass back to Cuba, where you will continue working for my brother until the day you die.” Sendak released Lance’s face and Lance hung his head. He was so scared, for himself but mostly for Keith. He knew there was no way Sendak would let Keith live. 

Lance closed his eyes as tears began to slip down his cheeks. Please Keith, he thought, please leave me behind and live. He sent up a silent plea to whoever might be listening and hoped against hope that Keith would not come.

***

Keith was feeling very pleased with himself after that morning. He had gotten all his anger out after dealing with Sendak by visiting the local boxing ring, and then headed back to Allura’s place. 

She was pleased to see that he was fine, he was miffed to see she had so little faith in him. Now he was heading back to Lance’s apartment. Before he had left that morning, Lance had said he had a special surprise for him. Keith was excited to spend the evening surrounded by his lover’s warmth and love.

That dream, however, came crashing down as he reached Lance’s apartment. Nailed to Lance’s front door was the sparkly headband Lance loved to wear when he was rehearsing or performing. There were faint bloodstains on it. For the second time in less than 24 hours, Keith felt his stomach drop and his skin go cold. 

There was a crude note attached to the headband. Keith snatched it and took off down the stairs. All that was written on the note was an address. Keith knew he was in over his head with this. He needed Allura’s help. 

Keith cursed his stupidity. Of course a man like Sendak wouldn’t be cowed by a beating and a few paltry threats. He had underestimated the man and now Lance was the one paying for it. Keith felt tears prick his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He could fall apart later, but for now, he needed to be focused. He would not let Lance down again.

***

For the second time today, Keith slammed open Allura’s door.

“Would you stop doing that?” she asked, looking up exasperatedly, but she immediately grew serious as she took in Keith’s desperate face. “What happened?” she asked, standing. 

“He took him,” Keith’s hand shook as he thrust the note at Allura. “That bastard has Lance.” Keith sat in the small chair in front of Allura’s desk. “I was a fool, a complete fool, and now Lance is the one in danger.” 

Allura came around the desk and knelt in front of Keith, placing a gentle hand on his knee. “We’ll get him back Keith. I promise.” Keith nodded shakily at her. Allura went to the door and handed the note to someone who was waiting out there. She spoke with the man, but Keith was too consumed with worry to pay any attention. 

Keith knew this feeling of dread that was eating the pit of his stomach would not go away until he had Lance safe in his arms again.

***

Several hours later, much too long in Keith’s opinion, but everyone was sticking their necks out for him so he couldn’t really complain, they were ready to go. 

Allura had rounded up all the available member of the Paladins and they had been stocked up to the gills with guns and ammunition. One of the members had found the address, all that was left to do was get there. 

“Remember,” Allura addressed the group, “try to be careful where you shoot, we don’t want to hit the hostage.” The gangsters nodded. Keith was glad that these were the guys on duty today. He had worked with most of them for years, and he trusted them to be careful. 

“We don’t know how many men they have, so we have to go about this carefully.” Allura outlined their plan of attack, which Keith quickly memorized. Soon, Lance would be safe and this would all be over.

They all piled into their cars, and then headed towards the location, which turned out to be a warehouse in Brooklyn, in a caravan.

Keith sat out the drive in silence, going over and over the plan in his head. By the time they pulled up to the warehouse, Keith was a bundle of nerves. He stepped out of the car, fiddling with his pistol. 

Allura clasped his shoulder. “We’re gonna get him out.” She said, looking at his reassuringly. Keith nodded, and breathed deep. Damn right they were. Even if he died trying.

***

Lance didn’t know how long he was been sitting in that warehouse. Probably hours, though his screaming muscles said longer. Sendak had returned a little while ago and was pacing in front of him. It looked like maybe Keith wasn’t coming, judging by how agitated Sendak was getting. Lance smiled underneath his gag. Even if it was over for him, at least the man he loved was safe. 

Lance’s smile disappeared as the warehouse doors crashed open. Sendak whirled to face them, and Lance saw maybe 20 men rush in, guns aimed at Sendak. Sendak let out a shrill whistle, and his men jumped down from the second level of the warehouse, where they had been hiding. 

Gunshots began sounding as bullets flew through the air. In the midst of the mess, Lance saw Keith, his gun drawn as well with Allura by his side. Lance began to breathe heavily as he desperately tried to signal to Keith to get out. Sendak smiled, pulling a gun and putting it to Lance’s head. 

The members of Keith’s gang spread out, engaging with Sendak’s men. Lance could see the exact moment when Keith spotted him and started to move forward. Lance tried to shake his head, but the gun pressed against his temple stopped him.

Keith got to a few yards in front of Lance when he stopped, his eyes trained on the gun in Sendak’s hand. “You’re a bastard,” spat Keith. “Not only have you scammed Lance for years, but now this?” 

Lance’s gaze focused, fear momentarily forgotten. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sendak said, but the tone of his voice clearly indicated that he did.

“I received some very interesting news from a contact in Cuba,” Keith said. “According to him, Lance’s family hasn’t borrowed from your brother in years.” Lance stopped breathing. All this time, all that money, just for a scam. 

Sendak snarled. “Well aren’t you a clever boy. But you seem to be forgetting who has the power right now!” Sendak removed the safety from the gun with a click that had both Keith and Lance freezing. 

“What do you want?” Keith asked roughly. Lance almost sobbed. 

“I want you to realize that you’re nothing but a failure, and in the end you’re gonna get the person you love killed.” Sendak smiled wickedly, pushing the muzzle of the gun painfully against Lance’s head. 

“No,” the words burst out of Keith as he reached forward, as if trying to stop Sendak’s motion even from several feet away. Slowly, Sendak turned back to Keith and smiled.   
“You’re right,” Sendak said silkily, as if they were in a business meeting and not in the middle of a firefight. “I was never one for drawing out suffering. Call me merciful then.” With that, the gun swung away from Lance’s head and aimed at Keith.

Two gunshots reverberated through Lance’s skull as he watched Keith crumble to the ground and felt his world come to an end.


	5. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the warehouse fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter! Thanks so much to everyone for reading and liking this fanfic. It was my first time posting something and I had a really good time! Thanks so much, hope you like the finale!

Allura paced back and forth in her office, her eyes never leaving the telephone on her desk. The mission had been a success in that they had gotten the hostage, Lance, out unharmed. However, now there was a life on the line. 

Allura cared about all the people who worked under her, and she would take the time to fall apart and grieve later, but for now she had to be strong.   
The doctors had assured her that they would call her as soon as they had news, good or bad. 

There was a knock at her door, startling her. “Come in,” she called, halting her pacing in the middle of the room. The door opened and a head of dark hair with a streak of white poked through. 

“Hey, how are you?” Shiro asked, coming fully into the room.

Allura sighed, and resumed her pacing. “Well, we got the hostage out, but I’m waiting to hear about a possible casualty.” Allura’s tongue tripped over calling one of her best friends a casualty. Shiro nodded, rubbing his metal arm as if it was bothering him.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you,” he said quietly. Allura shook her head. 

“It couldn’t be helped. You were doing good work for me on the job I gave you.” Shiro had come to Allura’s place the day after the raid, and after having an acquaintance vouch for him, she offered him a job. 

Shiro seemed to have a lot of connections with the police, which was both useful and a touch concerning, so she had started him off with small jobs, not letting him in on too many secrets until she could trust him a bit more. At the time of the attack to save Lance, Shiro had been out on an errand for Allura, helping to secure a mole in the police department. 

“Thank you,” Shiro said, smiling. Allura smiled briefly back before her eyes returned to the phone. “What happened with the person you’re waiting to hear about?” Shiro asked, taking a tentative step forward.

Allura rubbed a hand over her face. “One of my earliest members, and closest friends. This rescue mission was to save the man he’s in love with. He was shot in the chest. Managed to take down the kidnapper though, tenacious bastard.” Allura smiled fondly.

“I’m so sorry,” Shiro gently touched Allura’s arm to stop her pacing. 

“Thanks,” Allura patted the hand that rested respectfully on her elbow. “Keith’s had such a hard life. I was so happy he had finally found someone.” Shiro’s smile dipped a little.  
“His name is Keith?” he asked hesitantly. “Keith what?” 

Allura looked at Shiro strangely. “…Kogane, why do you know him?” At the last name, Shiro’s face had gone deathly pale. He grabbed Allura’s arms a bit roughly, pulling her forward. 

“What hospital is he at?” he asked urgently. Allura struggled in his hold and he immediately released her. “Sorry, sorry. I do know him please tell me where he is.”

Allura was flummoxed. “He’s at Bellevue, in Manhattan, but how do you-“ Allura started to ask the obvious question of how the hell did Shiro know Keith, but Shiro had already turned and headed out the door. 

“I’ll tell you later,” he tossed over his shoulder as he booked it out of Allura’s office, leaving Allura staring after him.

***

Keith had been in surgery for 4 hours, 45 minutes and 27 seconds. Lance had been stuck in the waiting room, staring at the clock in the corner, counting each second as it brought him closer to either the worst or best moment of his life. 

When the doctor emerged from the surgery room, Lance’s heart leaped into his throat. He tried to prepare himself, he really did, but he still felt as though he would fall apart the moment the doctor opened his mouth.

“We’ve managed to remove the bullet and fix most of the damage it did. He lost a lot of blood, but he should expect to make a full recovery. He’s awake now, which is a very good sign.” Lance nodded shakily. 

“So he’s alive,” Lance said. The doctor nodded.

“Yes, he is alive.” The doctor smiled and patted Lance’s arm where it was wrapped around his side as he was trying to hold himself together. “Would you like to go see him?” 

Lance nodded. He knew the only reason he was being let into the room was because Allura had made sure that the doctors wouldn’t give him any trouble. He would never be able to repay them for what they had done.

Lance followed the doctor into the room and came to a stop as he saw Keith lying in the bed. He had never seen Keith look so small. 

“I’ll let you to have a moment. If he needs anything, just yell,” the doctor clapped Lance on the shoulder before exiting the room. 

Keith had turned at the sound of people entering, and his eyes locked with Lance’s.

“Hey,” Lance said weakly. 

“Hey yourself,” was the hoarse response. Lance moved forward and carefully lowered himself to sit on the bed next to Keith.

“How are you feeling?” Lance asked. 

“Like I’ve been shot in the chest,” Keith responded with a small smile. Lance did not smile, he let out a choked sob. 

“I’m so sorry, this is all my fault,” he whispered, covering his mouth in an attempt to muffle the sobs that were now spilling out. 

“Come here,” Keith tugged weakly at Lance’s sleeve and Lance laid down on the bed next to him, resting his head on the pillow next to Keith’s, taking care not to jostle him.  
Keith’s hand came up to stroke Lance’s hair. “It’s not your fault,” he whispered. “It’s only Sendak’s fault, okay.” Lance nodded, burying his face in Keith’s neck. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he sobbed. Keith opened his mouth to respond, but they were interrupted by the sound of the hospital room door, which Lance had closed behind himself, slamming open. 

Lance sat up abruptly, and was surprised to see… someone he did not recognize. He moved to the side a bit and looked back at Keith, who had gone ghost white. Lance hurried back to his side.

“You’ve gone pale, are you okay? Are you in pain?” Lance asked, hands hovering over Keith’s body.

“I’m fine, it’s just,” Keith struggled a moment before asking “help me sit up please?” Lance fluffed the pillows under Keith’s head and helped him gently slide into a more upright position. Keith’s eyes never left the stranger, who had a large scar across his face and a metal arm.

“Is it you, Takashi?” Keith whispered. The stranger moved forward until he stood next to the bed. 

“It’s me Keith,” the man – Takashi – sat where Lance had been sitting, right by Keith’s right hand. Takashi’s hand, the non-metal one, came up to stroke Keith’s bangs off his forehead. 

“What happened?” Keith asked, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. Lance wanted to comfort him, but could tell this was an important moment between the two and didn’t want to interrupt. 

Takashi shook his head, a tortured expression crossing his face. “I am so sorry Keith.” He said, moving to take Keith’s hand in his. “I broke my promise to never leave you, I’m so sorry.” Takashi looked down and seemed to gather himself before continuing. 

“Your father came back to the orphanage.” Keith gasped, but Takashi continued on. “I knew how afraid you were of him. He wanted to take you with him, I couldn’t let that happen. I knew he would break you. So I told him I was you. You had been there long enough that he couldn’t really remember what you looked like, so he didn’t even question it. He took me away from you, and for that I am so sorry. But I don’t regret taking your place. There was no way I was going to let him do the things he did to me to you.

A few years ago, he found out that I wasn’t you. He was furious. The resulting punishment is why I have this scar and a metal arm. He kicked me out, and I went back to the orphanage to look for you, but you were already gone. I’ve been searching for you ever since, and now I’ve finally found you.” Takashi brought Keith’s hand to his face. “I’m so sorry I failed you, but I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Failed me?” Keith burst out, “It sounds like you saved me, and took on so much pain and sorrow for me. How could you have failed me?” Keith held out his arms, and Takashi fell into them, both of them succumbing to their tears. 

Lance didn’t want to intrude on the intimate moment, so he started to inch towards the door. “Wait,” Keith’s voice stopped him. “Takashi, this is Lance, the man I’m in love with.” Lance gasped at the words and Keith looked over at him, eyes brighter than Lance had ever seen them.

“Not exactly the greatest time to tell you that for the first time, but it’s true. I love you Lance.”

Lance’s smile was so big it actually hurt his face. “I love you too, Keith.” Lance said, moving forward to the other side of Keith’s bed. “And it’s lovely to meet you Takashi.” He added, making the three of them chuckle. 

Keith took Lance’s hand in his. “Almost dying really puts things into perspective,” he said. “I was so afraid of what could happen that I almost let the most amazing thing to ever happen to me slip away. If we had kept going the way we were, we would have grown apart. It would have been my fault. But I don’t want that. I want to share my past with you, and my future.”

Lance’s smile was as bright as the sun. “I feel the same,” he said.

The two smiled goofily at each other before Takashi broke the silence. “Who would have thought my ototo would fall in love like this,” he joked. Keith chuckled.

“It’s your turn now, nii-san.” He said. The slightly dreamy look that took over Takashi’s face made Lance and Keith laugh. 

Their gazes returned to each other, like moths drawn to a flame. Takashi cleared his throat.

“I’m going to let you two have some time to yourselves.” He said, standing. “But I will be back in 30 minutes, so no funny business.” The couple blushed and laughed. Lance would be lying if he said he hadn’t at least considered some funny business. 

After Takashi had left the room, Lance returned to his spot lying next to Keith, his head on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith coughed. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to tell you about my past now. I’ve been keeping it a secret because I was afraid of how you would react, but I trust that you love me enough to see beyond it.” 

Lance nodded. “I do,” he whispered.

Keith took a deep breath, then began his story. “My father and mother were very wealthy, but very unhappy. I honestly have no idea how they managed to conceive a child together because they hated each other. Me being born didn’t solve much. They fought all the time. 

When I was 4, my mother killed herself. Or at least, that’s the official story. The truth is that my father killed her. I know because I was there. They were arguing, and my father struck my mother across the face. She fell and hit her head on a desk. She must have just hit it hard enough in the right place, but she was dead instantly. 

My father was scared I would say something about it, so he sent me away to an orphanage in Brooklyn. That was where I met Shiro. Takashi, that is. He was like the family I never had. We were so close, we did everything together. The orphanage was a hard place to be. My father made sure it was one of the worst one in New York, no doubt hoping I would die from it. But I survived, with Shiro’s help. 

One day when I was 15 and Shiro was 17, he disappeared. I was devastated. No one would tell me what happened to him. I was so desperate to find him. I ran away from the orphanage that week. I lived on the streets for a while. 

During that time, Allura found me, and we started the Paladin Gang. We started out small, but we started to gain numbers fast. Soon we were the top gang in New York. With my newfound power, I dedicated my life to trying to find Shiro and trying to take down my father. I hadn’t succeeded in either, and that’s when you met me.”

Lance was quiet for a while, allowing Keith time to recover from his speech. “Why on Earth would you think I would hate you after that?” he asked. “You’ve had a hard life, but none of it was your fault.”

“I’m a killer, Lance.” Keith said bluntly. “I’ve killed more people than I can count in the pursuit of my goals. I would kill my father if I had the chance. After you told me your story, I could tell that you were a person who really loved your family. I thought you would think less of me for trying to destroy mine.” 

Lance was already shaking his head before Keith even finished. “I knew what you were from the moment I met you, Keith. I knew you were a mobster and what that meant. It didn’t bother me then and it doesn’t bother me now. You did what you had to do to survive, and it brought you to me, how could I complain about that?” Lance cuddled Keith closer.

“And I don’t blame you for hating your family. Just because I love my family doesn’t mean I think everyone has to love their family. Frankly, I also want to kill your dad right now, no offense.” 

Keith chuckled. “None taken love.” They stayed in a comfortable silence until Lance asked “Do you mind if I ask who your father is?” 

Keith paused a moment, then said “Zarkon.”

Lance pulled back to look at Keith’s face. “As in the chief of police in New York Zarkon?” 

Keith nodded grimly. “The very same.”

Lance laid his head back on Keith’s shoulder. “Wow.” 

Keith pulled Lance closer to him. “But now I have a new goal.”

“Do you now,” Lance asked.

“Mmm-hmm.” Keith answered. “My only goal in life is to live the rest of it happily. Screw my father. I’m not going to spend any more of my time on him. He doesn’t deserve it. From now on, my only objective is to love and live with you.” Lance blushed.

“Would you be mad if I copied your goal, mi amor?” Lance asked, looking up at Keith. This position pushed their mouths together. Lance could feel Keith’s lips move over his as he spoke.

“I would be annoyed if you didn’t,” Keith smiled. “Now get up here and kiss your injured boyfriend better.”

And Lance did just that.


End file.
